311 is even better than you remember

Somehow, while swimming in a sea of JNCO jeans and Tamagotchis and angsty ’90s alt rock, I overlooked the message that 311 has, since its inception in 1990, been putting out there so earnestly.

It was only after taking another listen to hits like “Amber” and “All Mixed Up” as a pseudo-adult that I finally got the message: Unity. Positivity. Returning your shopping cart to its designated shopping cart corral.

“We kinda learned about that from Bad Brains and reggae music a long time ago,” said Tim Mahoney, guitarist for 311. “It’s about trying to have a positive outlook. If you can look at things in a positive way … that’s kinda when changes start to happen.”

Over their career, 311 has put out 10 albums, with eight of them hitting the Top 10 on Billboard’s Top 200. They’ve had nine Top 10 singles on the U.S. alternative chart and have sold more than 8.5 million records in the states alone. Their cover of The Cure’s “Love Song” was used in the soundtrack to a Drew Barrymore movie, which is probably the most ’90s sentence I’ve ever uttered.

And yet I hadn’t given 311 a listen since the last time I tuned into 89X, the Detroit alt rock station I so faithfully grew up on. For that, I may be in the wrong. When I popped in 311’s Greatest Hits ’93-’03 album last week, I couldn’t turn it off. And when I listened to Universal Pulse, the band’s 2011 release, I was pleasantly surprised.

Every summer the band headlines a Unity tour that, in the past, has featured acts like Snoop Dogg, The Roots, O.A.R. and Ziggy Marley. Thursday night, 311 will party by the pool at L’Auberge solo. You can expect a wide range of 311 material — the band writes up set lists from scratch for every show — but, above all else, you can expect to hear that signature 311 sound, even after all these years.

“I think there’s a lot of the same influence — reggae music and hard rock music and things like that, and wanting to try and put things together like a dance hall drum beat with a hard rock riff,” Mahoney said.

311’s blend of rock, reggae, funk and hip hop makes for an engaging live show. When the band plays “311 Day” every other year — on March 11, naturally — they play a five hour show that encompasses almost 70 songs and covers. The next 311 Day will be in New Orleans in 2014.

“It started out with an extended set, then it turned into how long can we go? And then we just kinda maxed out at five hours,” Mahoney said. “We just try and pace it, especially the older we get.”

That’s a lot of dedication, not just on the band’s part. When’s the last time you stood in a crowded arena listening to the same band for five hours?

It helps, Mahoney said, to have fans who believe in the band’s message of positivity. People tend to be a little nicer when you’re at a show where niceness is expected of you.

“We are fortunate to have such a great group of folks that support us and allow us to play music,” he said. “Some of the Pantera concerts I’ve been to I ——- cower in the back, but those are some of the best shows I’ve seen in my life.”

Mahoney said he looks forward to playing L’Auberge’s Liquid Society because it’s a welcome change of pace.

“It’s like a little oasis there in the tour for us,” he said. “We play a lot of cookie cutter venues and amphitheaters. A lot of ’em have the same feel, just in different cities.”

Mahoney said he probably won’t hit the casino floor during his visit, but who knows? Maybe a little unity and positive thinking will win him big on the quarter slots.